Women Invited to Participate in UAMS Breast Cancer Study

By Liz Caldwell

Feb. 27, 2009 | LITTLE ROCK – The women of White County are invited to participate in a research study by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) designed to establish one of the largest and most rapidly assembled groups of women to aid in the study of breast cancer occurrence.

Spit for the Cure involves the collection of saliva samples from thousands of women age 18 and older and is being conducted with the support of the Arkansas Chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The research event will be held 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. March 11 at White County Medical Center, Main Campus in the Hubbock Center in Searcy. To participate, just drop by during the event and give a saliva sample. Lead researchers for the UAMS study are Susan Kadlubar, Ph.D., and Suzanne Klimberg, M.D. and study director Kristy Bondurant, Ph.D. For more information, contact Bondurant at (501) 686-8326 or by e-mail at BondurantKristinaL@uams.edu.

The saliva samples will be used to create a DNA database for future studies related to breast cancer risk and treatment. Participants also will be asked to answer a short questionnaire and indicate if they would be willing to participate in follow-up studies. All information will be kept confidential.

“It has become clear that an individual’s inherited profile and environmental exposures will decide, to a large degree, that individual’s risk of developing breast cancer,” Klimberg said. “We are working to obtain DNA samples from a representative group of Arkansas women to use to advance breast cancer research in a variety of areas.”

“Because the study is noninvasive, it is easy to participate,” Kadlubar said. “By collecting samples at various sites, we hope to quickly assemble a large, representative DNA database that will benefit numerous research studies.” Participants may follow the progress of the study at www.uams.edu/breastteam.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a new 540,000-square-foot hospital, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,652 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,200 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.
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